Joe McKelvey

Joe McKelvey (17 June 1898-8 December 1922) was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish Civil War.

Biography
Joe McKelvey was born in Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on 17 June 1898, the son of a Royal Irish Constabulary policeman. McKelvey worked as an accountant before joining the Irish Republican Brotherhood to fight for Irish independence, and he led the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921. McKelvey was opposed to sectarian conflict against the Protestant Ulster Scots, saying that it was a distraction from the real struggle for independence against the United Kingdom. In June 1922, he replaced Liam Lynch as Chief of Staff of the IRA, only to be captured during the Battle of Dublin. On 8 December 1922, McKelvey was executed by firing squad at Mountjoy Jail.